The Learning Of
by ChibiKarasu54
Summary: By some weird twist of faith, Kagami Taiga is turned into a five year old. Now, the Generation of Miracles, plus Seirin, must ban together in order to ensure the safety of one little tiger. But along the way of raising the miniature Kagami, they come to learn that there is more to that basket-baka than previously perceived.
1. Chapter 1

**The Learning Of**

**Main pairing: AoKaga, KagaAo**

**Minor pairings: GoM/Kagami, Kise/Kuroko, Midorima/Takao, Murasakibara/Himuro, **

**Summary: By some weird twist of fate, Kagami Taiga is turned into a five year old. Now, the Generation of Miracles, plus Seirin, must ban together in order to ensure the safety of one little tiger. But along the way of raising the miniature Kagami, they find out that there is more to that basket-baka than previously perceived.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroko no Basket or any of its characters**.

**A/N**: I fell in love with this anime the moment I saw Kagami's weird eyebrows. AoKaga has been my OTP for a while now, and I couldn't resist the urge to write something about them. So, here I am, beginning my first fanfiction. Go easy on me.

**Chapter One**

Kuroko Tetsuya was currently shooting some hoops, or at least attempting to, in Seirin's gym. Practice had been over for half an hour now but Kuroko, being the over achiever that he is, stayed behind to get in some extra practice. He's been doing nonstop shots and was starting to feel a bit dehydrated.

Shooting the ball for one last time, and missing terribly, Kuroko proceeded to go to the vending machine to buy a sports drink. Once there, he inserted the correct amount of coins and chose his drink. While bending down to retrieve the beverage, he heard the tapping of slightly fast paced footsteps heading his way.

Straightening back up, Kuroko looked up to see Seirin's ace, sweaty and bent over, panting like his life depended on it.

"Hello Kagami-kun."

With a start, Kagami jumped a few inches off the ground, startled by his sudden greeting.

"Dammit Kuroko! How many times have I told you to stop doing that?! And how long have you been here anyway?!"

Kuroko only stared emotionlessly at the flustered red head.

"I've been here since before you, Kagami-kun. You're the one that just got here."

Looking a bit ticked, Kagami 'tskd' and started rummaging in the pockets of his basketball shorts. After a few minutes of fruitless search, Kagami raised his gaze to Kuroko and asked,

"Hey, do you happen to have any spare change? I left my wallet at home and I've been jogging for a while now, and I feel like I'm about to pass out if I don't drink something soon."

Observing how his light was still slightly panting and was starting to sag a little, along with drooping eyelids, Kuroko concluded that yes, Kagami was indeed about to pass out.

Sighing, he held out his drink and offered it to the taller male.

Kagami looked at the offered drink then back at Kuroko's expressionless eyes, and refused the drink by shaking his head.

"No no, it's fine if you don't have any spare change. You don't have to give me your drink, I'm sure I can hold out a little longer."

Kuroko sighed again, this time with a hint of fondness and exasperation. _'Kagami-kun, so selfless, as always.'_

"You can have it, Kagami-kun. I'm not as thirsty as you."

"No, it's fine. You already bought it, you keep it."

"I'm not the one on the verge of passing out."

Grimacing a little at his own words being used on him, he tried to protest once again,

"But—"

"Just take it, Kagami-kun."

Knowing that there was no point in arguing with Kuroko anymore, since he was almost as stubborn as himself, he reluctantly accepted the offered drink, but not without having at least a little say in it.

"Fine, but I'm paying you back the amount of money you spent on this."

Accepting that that was the only way to ensure that Kagami would drink the beverage before he passed out, Kuroko simply nodded in agreement.

Nodding his own head once in conformation, Kagami proceeded to open his drink and chug down all the liquid inside the container, not even pausing to breathe a little. Once the bottle was emptied, Kagami swallowed the last of it and took a deep breath.

"Thanks Kuroko, I owe you one."

"You're welcome, Kagami-kun."

They started to slowly walk away from school and made their way towards their homes' general direction.

After finally controlling his breathing, Kagami took notice of this strange taste in his mouth. It wasn't unpleasant, per say, but it wasn't a taste he liked to have in his mouth either. Clicking his tongue to the roof of his mouth to try and get rid of the taste didn't seem to work. Getting annoyed pretty easily, Kagami asked in a miffed tone,

"Oi Kuroko, what the hell type of flavor did you choose?"

Kuroko, having been observing his friend's grimacing face and wondering what was bothering him, answered, "I chose the blueberry flavor."

"Blueberry?"

"Yes. Was it not to your liking?"

After wiggling his tongue a little in a silly attempt to get rid of the taste, Kagami said, "It's not that it tasted bad or anything, but it left this weird after taste. A little rancid."

Kuroko asked for the bottle and Kagami handed it to him. He carefully read the ingredients and looked out for the date the drink was supposed to expire on. Everything seemed in order and nothing looked suspicious. Having come to a reasonable conclusion, Kuroko voiced out his thoughts,

"Nothing seems wrong with the drink, maybe you just don— Kagami-kun? Are you alright?"

Concern laced his voice when he stopped to see his teammate collapsed on the middle of the sidewalk. He rushed to the red head, who was currently in fetal position, and placed a hand on his shoulder, lightly shaking it.

"Kagami-kun? What happened? What's wrong? Talk to me."

His only response was a groan that was laced with pain and Kagami tightening into a ball, clutching his stomach tightly.

Getting a bit desperate after witnessing his friends' obvious pain, Kuroko gingerly turned Kagami so that he was lying on his back, still holding on to his stomach. Kagami let out a low grunt, signaling his discomfort. Quickly scanning the taller male's body for any signs of injury, he found none, so he raised his hand to Kagami's cheek and lightly tapped it in order to get his attention. Red lashes fluttered open in response and pain glazed eyes stared dazedly back at him.

"Kagami-kun, can you hear me?"

"Ngghh"

"I'll take that as a yes. Now, can you tell me what's wrong with your stomach?"

At the mention of the word stomach, Kagami moaned despairingly, as if the word itself inflicted physical pain upon him.

"I take it it hurts."

Even through the haze of pain, Kagami managed to give him a weak glare to his Captain Obvious remark.

Stifling a smile at his light's antics, Kuroko tried removing Kagami's grip on his stomach, which was nearly impossible since he had it in a vice like hold. As Kagami was stronger than Kuroko, it proved to be ten times more difficult. After tugging and pulling for at least two minutes, Kuroko finally managed to remove Kagami's hands, sweating and panting slightly at the exertion. He composed himself and once again scanned his friends' body, this time focusing on his stomach. Not being able to completely see, Kuroko carefully lifted Kagami's black shirt and glanced at the clenching and unclenching muscles of his abdomen. Nothing seemed out of place and Kuroko could only come to the conclusion that the drink must've done it.

"Kagami-kun, I believe you have food poisoning."

Feeling like he needed to say something, Kagami grit out, "If this was just food poisoning, I wouldn't be in this much pain," heavy panting ,"don't you think I've gotten food poisoning before, considering the amount of food I eat?"

Kuroko pondered on this and decided that the red head had a point.

"Should I take you to a hospital then?"

Feeling like the answer was quite obvious, he started with no low amount of sarcasm, "Well, seeing as I'm in an immense amount of pain right now, I'd say—"

But before he could even finish his biting remark, a new wave a pain coursed through his body, this one being the most excruciating of all. He couldn't contain the short shout that left his throat. His vision went white for a moment and his body trembled with the strain.

Kuroko's eyes widened in alarm when he saw how seemingly out of nowhere, his friends' pain turned into agony, leaving him trembling and whimpering. He reached out to get a grip on the red heads' shoulder, but before he could even touch him, a blinding light seemed to engulf Kagami.

Startled, Kuroko jumped slightly backwards and landed on his bottom, squinting his eyes against the bright light and trying to see beyond it and to his friend.

What he saw left him baffled.

Kagami's body was literally _shrinking_. You could see his arms and legs getting shorter, and his mid body getting thinner and smaller. His body shrank so much, that by the time the light subsided, his smaller body was engulfed in his clothes.

Still uncomprehending and quite disbelieving as to what just happened; Kuroko slowly got up and shuffled closer to the bundle of clothes. He warily knelt down and with shaking hands, slowly opened the Seirin Basketball team issued sweater. The sight that greeted him confirmed that, yes, Kagami did indeed shrink, and _no_, he was _not_ losing his mind,

There, in all his chibbified glory, laid a sleeping miniature sized Kagami Taiga.

**A/N**: I'll try to keep updating twice a week. School is hectic even though it just started. Anywho, please review and let me know what you think. Constructive criticism is welcomed.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** So here's the second installment to my new story. I read all of you guy's reviews, and I gotta say I'm feeling encouraged. This is my first fanfic and all, so thanks for all the praise and support.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Kuroko no Basuke or any of its characters.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Two<strong>

Kuroko blankly stared at this new found Kagami for about two minutes straight. He promptly had a mental freak out.

_'Why did this happen? _How_ did this happen?!'_

Not knowing what to do, but not about to leave Kagami lying on the sidewalk either, Kuroko carefully wrapped little Kagami in his now oversized clothes. He gently picked him up and proceeded to carry Kagami in his arms.

_'Now, what to do?'_

He obviously couldn't just drop off Kagami-kun in his apartment, and it wasn't like Kagami had his parents with him to take care of him.

Maybe he should call Seirin?

Yes, that was the best option. He couldn't take Kagami-kun to his home without his parents questioning why he had what looked like a five year old kid with him.

Shifting the bundle in his arms, Kuroko grabbed his phone and dialed Coach's number. After ringing for a few seconds, the phone was answered,

"Kuroko-kun, why are you calling at this late hour? Do you_ want_ me to put you in a crab hold?" The deadly sweet tone of his coach had Kuroko shudder almost unnoticeably. Nevertheless, he said with as much seriousness as he could convey,

"Coach, it's an emergency. I wouldn't be bothering you at this hour otherwise, I assure you."

Noting how Kuroko's voice sounded more serious than usual, Seirin's coach worriedly asked, "Is everything alright, Kuroko-kun? What happened?"

Not wanting to talk about this odd, yet serious, matter over the phone, Kuroko replied, "I'm afraid the situation is too complicated to explain over the phone. Please call the rest of the team and tell them to head to Kagami-kun's apartment. We will discuss matters there."

"Did...something happen to Kagami-kun?" She asked warily.

"It's no easy matter to explain. Please arrive to Kagami-kun's apartment as soon as you are able to."

Not receiving the answers she wanted, Riko hurriedly agreed and hanged up with a promise to round up all the guys and head to Kagami's ASAP.

* * *

><p>When Seirin barged into Kagami's apartment, almost falling all over each other in the process, they expected to find an injured Kagami; they expected to see him clutching his legs, proclaiming he couldn't play basketball anymore. They even expected to hear some form of horrible news involving Kagami moving back to America. What they definitely <em>didn't<em> expect to be greeted by was a sleeping child with a striking resemblance to their Ace, his head being pillowed by Kuroko's thigh while the rest of his body was resting on the couch.

Hyūga, immediately thinking of the worst possible scenario involving the child, Kagami, and some unknown woman, proclaimed angrily, "Don't tell me this Bakagami knocked up a woman and is now left with the child!"

Kuroko looked slightly bemused at the accusation and was about to protest such nonsense, (because Kagami-kun isn't like that, and if anything he was an angel) when the whole team of Seirin burst into hysterics.

"Kagami, you despicable man!"

"How did _Kagami_ get a girlfriend before _I_ did?!"

"Who's the lucky girl that _luck_ed out, Kagami?"

"Izuki, shut up."

"Kagami's all grown up now! ~"

"Bakagami! I knew you were stupid, but not _this_ stupid!"

"..." (Mitobe)

Kuroko sighed silently at his teams antics. Really, he should've known something like this was going to take place. It was almost predictable.

Suddenly, he noticed the child in his lap started squirming. It seemed that the rest of the team had noticed this also, because the loud exclamations from before have now quieted down to a low murmur. They quickly and quietly crowded around the couch and observed the waking child with rapt attention.

Red lashes fluttered lightly until lids slid up and revealed dazzling crimson eyes, startling similar to his (presumed) fathers'. The eyes in question looked around confusedly, trying to comprehend where he was. He then took notice of the many set of eyes watching him weirdly. He fidgeted in place, feeling on edge while being stared at so intensely. He had a feeling he was supposed to know these people, but for the life of him he couldn't name any faces.

Finally, he asked hesitantly with a tiny voice, "W-who are you people?"

At the inquiry, Kuroko sharpened his gaze on Kagami. _'He doesn't recognize us...?'_

About to reply, he was interrupted, yet again, by Hyūga, "We're the people who're going to beat up your tousan, that's who we are!" He exclaimed quite loudly, startling the child so badly that he sat up quickly and scoot backwards rapidly in one quick motion, accidentally bumping into someone that he _swears_ wasn't there before. Turning his head to glance behind his shoulder, he hurriedly apologized,

"Sorry, my bad, I didn't notice you there..."

Kagami's sentence trailed off when he got a good look at the person he bumped into. The fair skin tone and pale blue hair and eyes seemed really familiar. He knew those eyes, he knew he did. He wasn't sure how to explain how he was so sure he knew this person, he just did.

Kuroko, for his part, was mentally questioning why Kagami-kun seemed to not know who they are. Was it a side effect to whatever happened to him earlier? Suddenly, a jarring thought made itself known,

_'He doesn't...remember me?'_

That little question ignited a plethora of negative emotions.

Kagami-kun is one of his most precious friends. In fact, he's his _best _friend. If he hadn't met Kagami-kun, he would've never had a chance against the Generation of Miracles. Kagami-kun never gave up on him and always believed in him. He changed the Miracles for the better, and humbled them enough for the pride filled men to play with their teams and not individually. (Well except for Aomine. He will always stay the same.)

The point being, if Kagami-kun doesn't remember him, his Shadow, he doesn't know what he's going to do with himse—

"Ku...roko?"

The hesitantly spoken name came out of trembling lips.

At the mention of his name, Kuroko once again returned his attention to mini Kagami, all thoughts of despair exiting his mind completely, and leaving behind such huge feeling of relief that he almost let out a chuckle. Looking at the child that had uttered his name, he replied back,

"Yes, Kagami-kun?"

Chibi Kagami's eyes widened at that. "So I was right! You _are_ Kuroko! 'Cause I thought you looked familiar with the blue hair and stuff, I mean, who else would have blue hair, right?"

Kuroko's eye twitched at the tone in which that was said. But he couldn't stay aggravated for long, because seeing Kagami like this, mindlessly talking while making random hand gestures to go with what he's saying, was a completely new side of him that he hadn't seen before. But he couldn't remain marveled forever; he needed to ask some questions.

"Kagami-kun," he cut in. Kagami immediately stopped talking and looked back at Kuroko, rubbing the back of his neck while smiling sheepishly.

"Sorry! I've been told I talk a lot."

Kuroko smiled slightly and replied, "It's alright. But Kagami-kun, answer me something."

Kagami looked up with questioning eyes, "Yeah?"

Kuroko gestured with his arm at the whole of Seirin, who have been keeping uncharacteristically silent during the exchange, and asked, "Do you recognize anyone else?"

Kagami glanced at the rest of the people behind him, crossed his arms, and gave them a speculating look.

"Hmmm... I'm not sure. I think I know that the glasses guy collects dolls, and that the tall guy over there is really goofy. And that the guy in the middle has really lame jokes."

Izuki looked a little put off that his awesome puns were labeled as lame, Kiyoshi didn't seem bothered at being called goofy, and Hyūga fumed that his historical figures were called _dolls_. They're figurines!

"Anyone else you might know?" Kuroko prodded.

"Uhh, that guy," Kagami pointed at Mitobe, "doesn't talk, right?" He looked at Kuroko for confirmation and Kuroko nodded. Kagami then looked at Riko.

"Oh!" Kagami slammed a fist to his open palm and exclaimed, "The girl with the small chest is reeaalllllyyy scary!"

All noise was stopped and everyone in the room, besides Kagami, stiffened and sent horrified looks between their (evilly) smiling coach and the pleased looking little redhead.

Kuroko sighed at that_. 'Really Kagami-kun. Even in this state, you're still tactless.'_

Before things could get ugly (Riko's eyebrows were twitching and she was readying for the blow) Kuroko announced, "Everyone, please stop and listen to what I'm about to say."

That seemed to be enough for everyone to pay attention, since when Kuroko speaks he usually has something important to say.

Kuroko took a deep breath and let out, "This child here," he motioned to the oblivious redhead, "is Kagami-kun."

Koganei then said, "Well, yeah, since his dad is Kagami, then that'll make him a Kagami too."

Kuroko shook his head in a 'no' motion and rebutted, "No, what I'm saying is that he_ is_ Kagami-kun. Our teams' Ace."

"..."

_'Here it comes...'_ Kuroko thought, bracing for the impact.

"HHhAAA?!"

The loud exclamation came from everyone, all looking like they couldn't believe what they have just been told, which was understandable.

"What are you saying, Kuroko?!"

"Is this a joke?"

"Really? That's Kagami? How cute~"

Smack.

"Oww! Why did you hit me, Hyūga?!"

"Don't go believing everything you hear, baka!"

"Hey, can I touch him?"

"He's not a pet, Tsuchida!"

"EVERYONE SHUT UP! OR I'LL HAVE YOU ALL DO QUADRUPLE DRILLS FOR THE NEXT MONTH!"

That had them nice and quiet in no time. Riko only shook her head and turned back to Kuroko.

"Can you please explain what you mean by that, Kuroko-kun?"

Kuroko nodded and proceeded to tell him how he was practicing after school and then met up with Kagami-kun. That then he gave him his drink because Kagami-kun was about to pass out, and that it supposedly tasted weird. That on the way home Kagami suddenly dropped and looked to be in a great deal of pain, and how he was then surrounded by that mysterious bright light, and that by the time the light subsided, Kagami had been left behind as how he is now.

There was a contemplative silence after that, everyone trying to let it sink in. Then,

"So...can someone buy me a burger? I'm starving."

"That's definitely Kagami." They all deadpanned.

* * *

><p>After getting over the shock that the little redhead is indeed Kagami, they all went out to the nearest Maji Burger.<p>

They all piled up on one of the largest tables, getting extra chairs from other tables so that they can all fit. By the time everyone had sat down with their food, Kagami was already on his third burger. Everyone just stared, not even shocked anymore at the amount of food he could consume, even if he did revert a few years.

"So Kagami," Izuki started, "do you know how old you are?"

After swallowing down the food in his throat Kagami replied enthusiastically, "I'm five years old!" He held up his right hand and wiggled his fingers; as if to prove that he was in fact a five year old.

Kiyoshi then asked, "You don't who we are then?"

"Um, well, it's like I know I know you guys, but don't really _know_ you, you know?" Kagami explained as best as he could, not knowing enough vocabulary to properly articulate what he wanted to say.

They all stared blankly at the five year old language they have just been subjected to.

"Hey wait! How come you remembered who Kuroko was and not anyone else?" Koganei proclaimed accusingly.

Everyone looked at Kagami, also wanting to know why he remembered only Kuroko.

"Uhh... I just knew?" Kagami's reply was more of a question than anything; he himself not knowing how he knew who Kuroko was from the very beginning.

Koganei opened his mouth to hound Kagami a bit more when Kagami continued to elaborate, "It's sorta like a feeling. I feel like I'm closer to him than with you guys. It's like he's my best friend!"

No one knew how to feel about that, because they all knew that that was the truth. Kagami was closest with Kuroko and vice versa.

Kuroko smiled a small unnoticeable smile, feeling a bit warm inside in knowing that Kagami returned his sentiment. In that moment he felt like thanking Kagami a million times over for existing. Instead he said,

"You're my best friend too, Kagami-kun."

Kagami's eyes brightened to an incredible shade of scarlet at that, his whole face morphing into one of genuine happiness, his blinding smile radiating joy.

All of Seirin couldn't stop the small blushes from appearing on their faces. Kagami never smiled like that, unless they had just won an incredibly hard game. Off court he stuck with grins, sneers, or smirks. This was an expression they were rarely witness to.

Riko coughed a little, trying to stop the squeal that was threatening to spill out. In turn, that caused everyone else to turn to look at her. She cleared her throat awkwardly and said, "W-well, since it looks like you're not remembering the rest of our names anytime soon, I'll reintroduce ourselves."

She stood up from her chair and dramatically pointed to Hyūga first, "Our teams' Captain and Shooting Guard, Clutch Time Hyūga Junpei!" Hyūga stood up and shot a hamburger wrapper into the trash can a few tables away, making it in perfectly. He looked back with an arrogant smirk, popping his neck purposely.

"Whoa!" Kagami awed at this, clapping enthusiastically all the while.

"Next we have our Point Guard! Always keeps his cool and has an arsenal of lame puns, Eagle Eye Izuki Shun!" Izuki straightened up in his seat and cleared his throat, "Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He's all _right_ now."

"Izuki, go buy a milkshake and don't come back."

Kagami sweat dropped at this, chuckling nervously.

"Never knows when to give up and always lighthearted, our Center, the Iron Heart Kiyoshi Teppei!" Kiyoshi tugged Kagami to him and gave him a bear hug, saying all the while, "You can call me Cool Uncle Kiyoshi now, Chibi Kagami."

Kagami struggled, trying to get out of the choke hold he was in. Finally, he got released and took a deep breath and splayed his upper half all over the table. "I almost died!" He proclaimed breathlessly.

Kiyoshi took on a serious face and said, "Kagami, don't be ridiculous. You can't die from a hug."

"That's not the point!" Kagami exclaimed angrily.

"There's a point?" Kiyoshi questioned with a confused face.

Kagami face palmed, deciding it wasn't worth. Besides, he couldn't stay mad at this Kiyoshi guy. He seemed like a nice guy, despite almost choking him to death.

Riko once again cleared her throat to get Kagami's attention back. When she had it she continued, "Anyways, up next is a hardworking and diligent player, no one's ever heard his voice, Hook Shooter Mitobe Rinnosuke!" Mitobe only smiled and nodded his head at mini Kagami. Kagami smiled back, albeit more widely.

"Here we have Koganei Shinji, can do nothing and anything at the same time, a Jack of all Trades!" Koganei deflated at this, already having taken a superhero pose.

"So mean..." He murmured, crocodile tears running down his cheeks.

Kagami giggled, finding it funny how teary the other looked.

"Tsuchida Satoshi! Good at defense and the only one of these losers to have a girlfriend!" Tsuchida smiled and waved, earning an enthusiastic wave back.

"And last but not least, our bench players and first years, Furihata Kōki, Fukuda Hiroshi, and Kawahara Kōichi!"

"It's very nice to re-meet you!" They all exclaimed in unison.

"It's awesome to meet you guys too!" Kagami said back excitedly.

Riko then pointed to herself, "I'm Seirin's coach and manager, Aida Riko. These are the people who our team is made up of—"

"Hey wait! Introduce Kuroko too! It's not fair that everyone else got a proper introduction and he didn't!" Kagami proclaimed, pouting cutely with his arms crossed and odd eyebrows scrunched up.

Unable to resist it this time, Riko squealed loudly and launched herself forward, intending to glomp Chibi Kagami. Kagami, for his part, saw a crazy woman about to attack him and started hastily backing away. But it seemed his efforts were fruitless, for Riko already had him in his arms and squeezing him to her chest with all her might, gushing about how adorable Bakagami was when he was little or something along those lines.

Kagami waved his arms frantically and was internally calling for help when another set of hands gently pried Riko's arms away from him and lifted him off of the Beast Woman, as he now dubbed her.

Kuroko extracted a flailing Kagami out of his Coach's death grip and settled him at his lap.

"I don't think Kagami-kun enjoys being stripped from air two times in a row."

"Ahh, right. Heh, sorry Kagami-kun, you just looked too adorable." Riko explained sheepishly.

"I'm not cute!" Mini Kagami protested indignantly, once again displaying that adorable pout. This kind of defeated the purpose of his statement.

Kuroko had to mentally rebut that. _'Kagami-kun is definitely cute when he does that.'_

"By the way, do any of you guys know where my mom is at?"

That had Seirin sober up a bit. They weren't sure how to explain that his mother was currently at the other side of the world, probably thinking that her son was still a fifteen year old and not five years old.

"Well, you see, you're in Japan right now and your mom is in America." Koganei, that brave soul, answered.

"America?" Kagami looked confused. "Where's that at? Is it far away?"

Koganei nodded sagely, "Very far away. In fact, it's so far away that an entire ocean separates you from her."

"Separates...?" Kagami said despairingly. Tears started gathering in his eyes and he started sniffling.

"Aho! Why would you tell a five year old that his mom is nowhere near him?!" Hyūga murmured angrily to Koganei while giving him a harsh smack to the back of the head. Koganei didn't even protest the abuse, looking guilty that he made a kid cry, even if the kid was Kagami.

Everyone started panicking when Kagami started letting out small hiccupping sobs.

"I-I don't want to be separated from Kaasan! She's my only mom!" Kagami sobbed out.

Kuroko gently petted Kagami's head, trying to get him to calm down. It didn't seem to be working much.

"Kagami, c-calm down. Koganei didn't mean it like that—" Hyūga tried to soothe, but was interrupted by a babbling Kagami.

"A-and I don't have any more family! It's just me and my Kaasan and Flamey, our cat! Please don't let me and Kaasan be separated!"

Everyone wondered at that. Kagami only had a mom?

"Kagami-kun, where's your dad?" Kuroko inquired, unable to keep his curiosity at bay.

Kagami calmed down slightly to answer the question. "Kaasan says that tousan was a 'good for nothin' bum'. I don't know what that means, but every time after she says that, she says very bad words and tells me not to repeat 'em."

They all looked at Kagami with varying expressions. They didn't know what to do with this newly released piece of information on their ace. Now that they think about it, what do they really know about Kagami? He's a basuke-baka, eats tremendous amounts of food, knows how to cook, lived in America, and now lives alone in a nice apartment. Was that really all there was to Kagami? Having heard this part of Kagami's past, they were forced to shift their current view of him.

Hearing this, Kuroko now had a lot of questions to ask his friend. What else is Kagami-kun hiding? He supposes that right now might be the ideal time to ask, when Kagami-kun is willing to lay bare all of his secrets. But that's a violation to the trust that is between them. He could never break that trust, not if it meant losing his friend forever.

Instead, he decided calming the weeping Kagami was his main priority right now. Questions can come later.

He shifted Kagami in his lap so that now his face was facing Kuroko's chest. He then led Kagami's head to his shoulder and rubbed calming circles on his back, all the while soothingly assuring him that, "It's alright Kagami-kun, you won't be separated from your mother forever."

Kagami looked up and sniffled. He wiped his face with the oversized t-shirt that he was wearing, rubbing off the tears. "I won't be separated from Kaasan for long?" His voice was wobbly, hitching slightly at the word 'separated'.

Kuroko affirmed his question with a reassuring shake of his head.

"How do you know? Did Kaasan tell you something?" Kagami asked suspiciously.

"Yes, actually. She told me that we are to take care of you for a while. She said that Flamey got sick so she's taking him to a very good doctor in America. She will be back." Kuroko had to tell a little white lie. He couldn't have a depressed Kagami-kun with him for whatever amount of time this age reversion will last.

"You're sure?"

"Completely."

That seemed to be enough to calm down Kagami. His tears stopped and his hiccups subsided. In their place, a blinding smile let itself known.

"Okay! If it's for Flamey's sake, then I can wait a few days."

The rest of Seirin let out a sigh of relief, quite awed at the way Kuroko handled a crying child.

"So you guys, what exactly are we going to do about this?" Izuki questioned, making vague hand motions towards Kagami.

"Actually, I know where to start on getting Kagami-kun back to normal." Kuroko voiced out.

"What do you have in mind, Kuroko-kun?" Riko asked.

"Firstly, we need get information. We need to know how Kagami-kun got like this. There's only one person I know who can gather information like nobody's business."

Hyūga, getting a bit tired of all the drama and just wanting to skip the suspense and get it over with, asked impatiently, "And who exactly is that?"

Kuroko gave a mysterious smile and said, "Momoi-san."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Well, that's it for this week. Sorry if it sounds too KagaKuro-ish. I just wanted to establish the depth to which Kagami's and Kuroko's friendship goes. Oh! Aomine and most of the GOM are making their first appearance in the next chapter, for all of you that are waiting for it to happen. See ya next week!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: Okay, I'm aware this took _way_ too long to update. I'm kind of horrible with completing anything on time. But anyways, I have no excuses. So! The moment most of you have been waiting for! The Generation of Miracles makes their first appearance! Well, some of them anyways...

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroko no Basuke or any of its characters.**

**Chapter Three**

"Satsuki, tell me why the_ hell_ I'm up this early on a Sunday morning."

"Dai-chan, it's 12'o clock you lazy bum!"

"Tch."

Aomine was having an awesome dream involving Horikita Mai-chan, a bed, and some chocolate syrup, when the Pink Devil herself invaded his room and loudly proclaimed that something important came up and to 'wake his lazy ass up'. Not only that, but Satsuki wouldn't tell him what was so important to have him be dragged into it too. Probably because she didn't know, which he wouldn't say out loud. He liked

his life, thank you very much.

Aomine mindlessly followed Sastsuki, not even bothering to protest any further. They came upon a nice neighborhood, housing decent looking apartment buildings. There was a street basketball court nearby and he could hear the distant gleeful shouts of children coming from the direction of a park he saw from a distance on the way here.

Satsuki led him to the decent looking apartment buildings he had spotted earlier. He was a bit curious as to who lived here. Now that he had a better view as they were getting closer to the building, he took note that the place was more than decent looking. There seemed to be a balcony for every floor above the first, and as they walked into the lobby, he saw how everything looked a bit on the wealthy side.

"Oi Satsuki, does Kise live here?"

"Of course not, idiot Dai-chan. Ki-chan lives in a much wealthier place." In his defense, it was a reasonable assumption.

"Then who the hell lives here? They must be at least partially loaded in order to afford living here."

"We're in Kagamin's place!" She cheerfully responded, as if there was nothing remotely odd about what she just admitted to.

"Ha? That baka lives here? What is he, some sort of rich kid? And wait, what are we even doing here in the first place?!" Aomine proclaimed, sounding indignant all the while.

"Well, Tetsu-kun said he needed my help with something important and told me to meet up with him in this address. Of course, if Tetsu-kun needs my help I'll gladly be of service! But I did a background check to see who lived here because I didn't recognize the place, and found out that Kagamin lives here!"

"If Tetsu only needed you, then why did you drag me here even when you knew that that idiot was going to be here?!" Aomine asked, annoyance seeping into his voice.

Satsuki scowled at this and snapped at him, "Tetsu-kun is asking for help, you aho! This is important! He could've asked Seirin for help but he came to us instead, what if something bad happened?"

Aomine only grunted and looked away, grudgingly admitting to himself that Satsuki had a point. "Fine, we're going in."

Satsuki only grinned triumphantly and walked into the elevator, pressing the button that led to the fourth floor. Aomine stepped in after her and leaned against an elevator wall, partially listening to the crappy elevator music that was playing, and partially thinking on how much of a pain it was going to be with Kagami there.

Sure, he didn't totally dislike Kagami to the point of hate, but he couldn't say they got along either. Whenever they happen to be near one another, they always seem to only argue or play some basketball. Most of the time it was both occurring simultaneously. Not only that, but Aomine had begun to develop some grudging respect for the upstart redhead, which totally sucked because Aomine could never hate someone who he respected. He supposes that the rest of the GoM are going through the same thing, being as they are quite similar in respect with pride, and in that they all got beaten by the same person.

But maybe he shouldn't complain too much. After all, he finally found his fated rival; the person who he has been longing for since his second year of middle school. Someone he could play against with all his might and be able to keep up with him, matching him toe for toe. Someone, that while playing a match with, will make him unsure of the outcome of the game. Someone who never lost his will to fight, no matter how hopeless the situation seemed.

Someone who brought back the fun in playing basketball.

And he guesses maybe he could respect that person, even if said person happens to be an infuriating redhead who he butted heads with most of the time.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the sharp ding of the elevator signaling that they had arrived at their destined floor. He pushed himself off the wall and followed Satsuki, who was already halfway down the hall in her excitement to see her 'precious Tetsu-kun'.

They arrived at a wooden door with fancy golden script displaying '48D'. Satsuki knocked on the door and they waited for several seconds. They heard the shuffling of feet before the door was opened, revealing a casually dressed Tetsu.

Before Kuroko could even open his mouth to greet them, Satsuki had launched herself at him with her arms wide open. She gave Kuroko a suffocating bear hug and exclaimed, "Tetsu-kuuuunnn!"

Kuroko stumbled slightly, but he gathered his balance before he was sent toppling backwards. He then gently managed to extract himself from the gushing woman and pushed her slightly away to a respectful distance.

"Momoi-san, I'm glad you could make it. Aomine-kun, I didn't know you were coming along." Kuroko said.

"Yeah well, that makes two of us." Aomine grunted out, shooting a disgruntled glare to his childhood friend. Satsuki completely ignored him, opting to speak with Tetsu.

"So Tetsu-kun, what is it you needed? You don't mind me bringing Dai-chan here, right?"

Kuroko only shook his head negatively and stepped aside to let them in. Aomine could've been imagining it, but he thought he heard Tetsu say, "I'm not sure if _he_ won't mind, though."

As Aomine went through the doorway, he found himself inspecting his surroundings. The place was huge. There was minimal furniture and a few sport magazines lying around along with some weights. The place was tidy. Not a speck of dust anywhere. He was a bit surprised at this, since he assumed that most people his age were naturally messy and couldn't be bothered to even make their bed, let one alone clean their whole house. But he figured that Kagami's parents must be the ones cleaning the whole place.

Satsuki and Aomine were led to the only couch in the living room and were told to please take a seat. Kuroko then made his way towards the kitchen that was connected with the living room and looked to be rummaging in the cabinets. He came back ten minutes later with two cups of steaming tea in his hands, offering one for each of them. They both took the offered tea and drank diligently. Finally, after a pause of silence, Kuroko spoke,

"Momoi-san, I need your help with gathering some information."

Satsuki set her tea cup on the plain coffee table that decorated the space between the couch and the plasma TV before asking,

"What type of information do you need, Tetsu-kun? Some intel on an opposing team?"

Kuroko shook his head and opened his mouth to respond but stopped midway, hesitating.

Now this was interesting. Aomine had never seen Tetsu hesitate before. He was a straightforward person who didn't beat around the bush. He was bluntly honest and never had any qualms about saying what needed to be said. Seeing him hesitate now, after being in the face of challenge after impossible challenge in the Winter Cup, was quite disconcerting.

After seeming to steel himself, Kuroko looked up once more and said, "Something happened to Kagami-kun and we need to know how to reverse it."

Aomine raised an eyebrow at this. "What do you mean 'something happened'? Did that idiot injure his legs again?" If something like that did happen, he'll give Kagami an earful. How dare that baka get injured before they had an official match? The Kanto tournament was right around the corner and Seirin needed that Bakagami in order to make it to the finals.

About to voice out his admonitory thoughts, he was interrupted by Tetsu,

"No, it wasn't anything like that. Well, at least we_ think_ it isn't anything like that."

Both Momoi and Aomine looked confused by this so Kuroko only sighed and said, "How about I let you see for yourself?"

At the exact moment he finished speaking, they all heard the loud slamming of a door coming from down the hallway behind them.

"Kagami-kun, please don't slam the doors close. It is disrespectful to the neighbors." Kuroko called out.

"Sorry Kuroko! I'll remember that for next time."

Aomine turned his head to look behind himself. What he assumed to be Kagami's voice sounded a bit off. It was higher pitched than normal and was filled with an odd tone of...something. Aomine couldn't place it; he just knew it sounded different from his normally neutral sounding voice.

The light patters of footsteps were heard making their way towards them. Out of the darkness of the hallway stepped out a toddler. Aomine spared the kid a fleeting glance before shifting his head to look back at Kuroko, silently asking him who the kid was. He then heard Satsuki let out a shocked gasp besides him. He turned to look at her and saw her covering her mouth, her eyes wide and disbelieving as she stared ahead. Curious, Aomine once again turned to look at the kid, because that was the only thing Satsuki could be staring at, and met the most familiar set of crimson eyes. He took a moment to inspect the kid more thoroughly this time. After a beat of silence, he did a double take.

Standing right in front of him was the spitting image of Kagami Taiga, only shorter and younger looking. He had the same two-toned colored hair and the same weird branched eyebrows. He also had the same pair of bright crimson eyes.

"Hey Kuroko, who're they?" asked the Kagami look alike curiously.

"Kagami-kun, these are my friends from another school, Momoi Satsuki and Aomine Daiki. You've met them before."

Kagami Number 2 scratched the back of his head and inquired, "I have? Are they more people who I forgot about?"

After Kuroko nodded affirmatively, Kagami made his way around the couch in order to face the newcomers. Aomine and Momoi followed his every move, warily observing this kid who could've passed as Kagami's child. When the kid was standing directly in front of them, he bowed in greeting and proclaimed,

"Nice to re-meet you! I'm Kagami Taiga and I'm sorry if I forgot who you guys are."

Silence. Then,

"Tetsu, what the hell?!"

"Aomine-kun, please refrain from cussing in front of Kagami-kun. He's a five year old and impressionable." Kuroko reprimanded him.

Aomine only shook his head disbelievingly and stated, "Forget about that, who's this kid saying he's Kagami?"

"He's exactly who he says he is."

About to tell him that there was no fucking way that was true, he was cut short by Satsuki moving off the couch to kneel down in front of the Kagami child.

"I can't believe this..." She trailed off, placing her hands on the cheeks of an uncomfortable looking Kagami. She then slowly trailed her hands from his cheeks to his red and black hair, ruffling it slightly.

"Kuroko, why is she touching my face?" Kagami inquired a little fearfully, not knowing what the woman's intentions were.

At this, Satsuki dropped her hands to her lap and responded sheepishly, "Ah, I'm sorry Kagami-kun, it's just that these are very weird circumstances."

Kagami only nodded a little warily but seemed to eventually warm up to Momoi as she made small talk with the mini Kagami.

Aomine, for his part, just couldn't get it into his head that this was _Kagami_, the 190cm tall _teenager_. Completely perplexed, he looked at Kuroko and demanded an explanation. Kuroko just sighed, he seemed to be doing that a lot lately, and responded, "I'm not sure what exactly happened," Momoi was suddenly listening in, "but all I know is that Kagami-kun was drinking a sports drink and that he complained that it tasted odd. After that, he collapsed on the sidewalk in extreme pain. I tried to help him somehow, but before I could this really strange bright light surrounded Kagami-kun. After the light subsided, he was left behind as he is now."

Aomine still didn't look convinced. He promptly concluded that Tetsu must be messing with him. He stood up from his position on the couch and stuffed his hands in his pockets, making his way towards the door. Everyone watched him curiously.

"Dai-chan, where are you going?" Satsuki asked.

"I'm getting out of here. There's no way this is seriously happening. This must be some messed up prank Tetsu is playing on us. I'm not sticking around for the finish though. See ya." He raised a hand in farewell and was about to make his way outside the door when he got stopped by a mini Kagami.

"Hey wait! I think I remember you a little!"

Disinterestedly, Aomine replied, "Yeah?"

"Yeah!" Kagami responded, enthusiastically nodding his head. "You're a very rude person!"

Momoi and Kuroko stifled a chuckle at this. Aomine only 'tskd' and said, "It doesn't take a genius to figure that out, kid. Now, if there are no other revelations you have—"

"And, you say something like 'I'm the only one who can win'? Or was it 'No one can beat me'? Hm... Oh! I've got it! 'The only one who can beat me is me.'!"

Aomine looked astonished. He hasn't said that in while now, not since Kagami defeated him at the Winter Cup. The fact that this kid, this kid saying he was _Kagami,_ knew his would be catchphrase, left him a little baffled. 'Maybe he really is...?'

"...which I think is a pretty dumb thing to say. I mean 'the only one who can beat me is me'? No one's perfect in anything, people lose all the time, even you Aomine."

Aomine's eye twitched. _'This kid is definitely Kagami, that little piece of...'_ But he couldn't finish his thought as the fact that Kagami really _did_ turn into a toddler finally sunk in.

_'Holy shit, this is for real.'_

He turned back around and closed the door behind him before making his way towards Chibi Kagami. Once he was standing right in front of the redhead, he looked down on him and stared contemplatively.

"...You're not gonna touch my face too, right? 'Cause that'll be creepy."

Aomine looked affronted and then scoffed, "As if, kid." He promptly flicked Kagami on the forehead.

"Hey!" Kagami aggrieved. He held a hand to his abused forehead and used the other to pinch Aomine's stomach. Aomine jumped at the unexpected action and scowled, swatting away the little hand that had pinched him.

The weirdness of it all had him a little lightheaded. Here he was, in Kagami's apartment, getting pinched in the stomach by an age reversed Kagami. He had to sit down.

Aomine collapsed back on the couch and let out a drawn out sigh. "This is ridiculous."

Kuroko nodded in agreement. "Yes it is. That's why I need Momoi-san's resourcefulness to help us find out how this happened and if possible, reverse it."

"Of course I'll help, Tetsu-kun. But I need that beverage bottle that Kagamin was drinking from."

"'Kagamin'?" Mini Kagami questioned.

"That's a nickname for you, Kagamin! Since you're a close friend of Tetsu-kun and someone Dai-chan respects," "Oi, what're you saying Satsuki? Don't tell lies." ", you're considered a close friend of mine too. Any close friend of mine has a nickname I give them." Momoi cheerfully explained, unbothered by Aomine's side comment.

"Ah, okay! It's awesome that I have another close friend! I've never had this many friends before!" Kagami enthused.

Aomine snorted and asked mockingly, "What, no one ever wanted to hang out with you? Understandable."

Kagami looked slightly hurt at his words and looked away, his fringe covering his eyes from view.

Noticing the lack of response, Aomine queried, "So that's it? No one _actually_ wanted to hang out with you? How sad."

"Aomine-kun." Kuroko sharply called.

Hearing the warning tone in his ex-shadow's voice, he turned to look at him. He was met by a chilling glare that promised death if he didn't shut up this instance. Affronted, he wondered what he did wrong until he heard slight sniffling. What he saw left him dumbfounded.

Kagami was trembling. His tiny fists were gripping the fabric of the oversized shirt he was wearing so tightly his knuckles were white with the strain. Little droplets of water were seen falling to the carpeted floor. His face was hidden behind his bangs but it was quite obvious where the water droplets were coming from.

Aomine wasn't sure what caused this reaction until Kagami looked up, meeting his azure eyes with fiery crimson that were filled with tears. Then the shouting came,

"I know I'm not the most fun person to hang out with! I'm weird and gloomy and nobody seems to like me! Every time I try to play with someone, they say I'm scary looking or that I made them uncomfortable! A-and when they found out that I only had a mom, they would ignore me even more! They thought I was some problem child, making my dad leave us. So thanks for reminding me that I'm not wanted by anyone else but my Kaasan, A-AHOMINE!"

After that last shout, Kagami broke down into sobs and hid his face behind his hands, and ran blindly into the hallway. They heard the loud slam of a door and a click afterwards, indicating that the door had been locked.

The stunned silence that had taken over when Kagami started shouting was shattered by that loud slam. Both Momoi and Kuroko turned to glare at Aomine frostily. Momoi made the first move.

"Idiot Aomine-kun! Why would you say something so insensitive to a five year old?!" she exclaimed shrilly. She promptly smacked him over the head harshly, not holding back at all.

"Oww! Satsuki, what the hell?!"

Before Aomine could get a response, he was jabbed sharply on the ribs by a pissed off Tetsu.

"You too, Tetsu?!"

Kuroko only continued glaring and said with no emotion in his voice, "That was very mean and uncalled for, Aomine-kun."

Aomine opened his mouth to protest but came up with nothing. He closed it with a sharp clack of teeth. Honestly, he didn't mean to make Kagami break down like that. He was expecting a jab right back at him when he said what he said. Not some emotion filled response. He needed to remember that Kagami was no longer a sixteen year old and therefore, he couldn't expect the same reactions.

But finding out that, as a kid, Kagami wasn't very well liked and that he was apparently abandoned by his dad left him feeling really shitty.

'Man, I'm such an asshole...'

"Aom—"

"I know I know stop your nagging."

Aomine begrudgingly dragged himself off the couch and made his way down the dark hallway. The walls were bare of any family pictures and the like. There were only three visible doors he could see. He chose one at random and opened the one to his immediate right.

It appeared to be a bedroom with only the essentials. A bed, nightstand, and a closet. Aomine raised an eyebrow at this. He wondered if this was a guest bedroom. If so, then the other two doors could only be Kagami's room and his parents, _mom's_, he reminded himself. He closed the door and went ahead and opened the one across from that one. It was a restroom with a tub and a shower. There was a single red toothbrush occupying a cup that was set on the sink.

_'Then where's...?'_

He slowly approached the furthest door from the entrance of the hallway. He stood in front of the plain white door. He could detect the slight sniffling sounds coming from the other side. He sighed resignedly and tried the door knob. It didn't budge so he was left with no option but to knock.

He did just that and the slight sniffling sounds subsided.

"Yeah?" Kagami asked with a slight wobble to his voice.

"Uh, hey um, kid." Aomine Daiki had no idea how to go about this.

"What do_ you_ want?" asked Kagami grumpily.

Aomine sighed once again and said, "I uh, I came here to a-apologize." The word 'apologize' was so foreign to his tongue that he stuttered a little.

"So just let me in already so I can get it over with." Damn. Brain to mouth filter _really _needed to be checked.

It was silent for a moment before the click of the lock was heard. The door opened and Kagami appeared behind it, half his body being hidden by it. One bloodshot eye stared at him warily before Kagami opened the door all the way, moving to the side for Aomine to come in.

Aomine entered the room and looked around. There was a twin sized bed against the far wall next to the only window in the room. Seirin's school uniform hung from a hook that was attached to the wall to his right. There was a desk with a few journals and textbooks here and there. A bookshelf was pressed up against the wall next to the door, containing various knick-knacks and a few framed pictures. There were posters scattered on the walls; some of a pro-basketball team, Air Jordan's, and a few bands he didn't recognize. A basketball was lying next to what he assumed was the closet. All in all, it looked like a regular teenaged male room, not counting how tidy everything was.

The sound of the door closing behind him reminded him as to why he was standing in the middle of Kagami's room. He closed his eyes and turned around, opening them when he was facing Kagami. He looked down on the disgruntled mini Kagami, his red eyes staring at him expectantly.

_'Whatever, let's get this over with. Before Satsuki comes in here and forces me.'_

"Look, I didn't seriously mean what I said back there. I was just joking around. I didn't know that nobody _actually_ wanted to hang out with you."

Kagami still didn't budge, his expression showing he was unimpressed.

With an annoyed click of the tongue Aomine continued, "So, um, sorry and all that. I didn't think you were _that_ much of a loser." That didn't come out _quite_ as he'd expected. Either way, he tried to convey as much remorse as he could through his expression.

Kagami silently stared at him for a few seconds before his stiff posture finally relaxed. A wry smile appeared on his face as he said, "You're not really good at saying sorry, are you? That was a very bad way of apologizing."

"Tch, you get what you get."

A small giggle escaped Kagami, and Aomine just stared. His sworn rival just _giggled_.

_'How manly, I'll make sure to bring this up once Kagami is back to normal.'_

Speaking of which, "Oi Kagami, when are you getting back to normal?"

Kagami looked mildly confused, his head tilted to the side and an eyebrow rose questionably.

"What do you mean back to normal?"

Right after he said that, his face took on an expression of anger and exclaimed, "Are you making fun of me again?! Saying I'm not _norma_l!"

Aomine hastily raised his hands in 'whoa' gesture, trying to pacify the fuming redhead.

"W-wait, no, no! That's not what I meant by normal! I'm just asking when you're going to get back to being a sixteen year old and not some kid, geez."

Kagami seem to calm down a little before he took on a confused expression.

"Oh, sorry. But what do you mean 'sixteen year old '? I need like..."

Chibi Kagami counted all the fingers on both his hands plus one more before exclaiming triumphantly, "I need like eleven more years to be a fifteen year old!"

Aomine stared at the kid weirdly. _'So he doesn't remember that he was a teenager before? I need to ask Tetsu about this.'_

"Well whatever, let's go back to the others."

"Oh, and just so you know..."

Aomine looked back at Kagami, raising an eyebrow in question.

"You're still an Ahomine." Kagami said smugly, a cheeky grin on his face.

Aomine's eyebrow made a weird spastic movement before he let his closed fist fall on that stupid red head.

"Shut up, Bakagami."

Aomine heard indignant spluttering as he walked out of the room, before Kagami was right at his heels, and headed to the living room. Once he entered, he received sharp questioning glares, demanding to know if he fixed things.

He simply waved his hand in a dismissive matter and moved to the side to let Kagami through. Kagami bound into the living room, but not without returning the favor and stomping on his foot. Aomine cursed before jumping on one foot comically, and waving a 'threatening' fist to the Chibi redhead. Kagami let out a snicker before running to Kuroko and sitting next to him, pressing up against his side.

Kuroko raised an eyebrow and said, "I'm assuming that Aomine-kun apologized to you, Kagami-kun?"

"Pfft, you can call it that, if you want. He was terrible at it! He _insulted_ me while 'apologizing'!"

"Whatever, be grateful that I even bothered to say sorry, brat." said Aomine as he walked -limped- up to them.

"You actually apologized, Dai-chan?" Momoi asked, sounding a little skeptical.

"Of course I did, not that I wanted to apologize or anything. But anyway, enough about me. Tetsu, how come Kagami's parents -_mom_- is not taking care of him?"

Kuroko replied, "Kagami-kun lives alone, Aomine-kun."

Aomine looked a little surprised, "Alone? Lucky bastard..."

"Aomine-kun, please stop cussing in front of an infant. And yes, he lives alone. All we know is that Kagami-kun was supposed to move in here with his father from America, but I suppose some complications came up."

"Wait wait, I lived in America?! And with my dad?!" asked a baffled sounding mini Kagami.

Kuroko looked to his right where Kagami was situated and answered, "Yes you did."

"Whoa, that's so cool! I got to meet my dad? How come I don't remember any of this?!"

"As I already said, Kagami-kun, you were involved in an accident that caused you to lose your memory," Kuroko explained.

"Okay yeah, but do you guys know when I got to meet my dad? Was he cool? Or was he a meanie like Kaasan said he was?"

An uncomfortable silence took place. Aomine didn't know why Tetsu wasn't answering, because he assumed that if anyone knew anything about this, it was him.

Finally, Kuroko spoke, "Actually Kagami-kun, we haven't met your father. We just know that he must be named Kagami-san, if he's your father."

"Oh," Kagami replied, his excited smile dropping in obvious disappointment.

A stifling silence took over. Before things could get too uncomfortable though, the front door was slammed open, and in came what looked to be all of Seirin.

"Kagami-kun! Kuroko-kun! We're back—" Riko started, but halted when she noticed a certain pink haired manager and a grumpy looking power forward sitting on the couch.

"Ah, Momoi-san, Aomine-san. I see you made it." she said instead.

Momoi got up from the couch and headed towards Riko with a pep in her step. "Hello Aida-san. I'm grateful that you asked for my help for this...situation." Momoi said, not knowing how to label Kagami's reversal in age.

"It's no problem," said Hyūga after down the bags he had been carrying. "We're just glad that we can at least start somewhere to fix this." Hyūga motioned to Kagami, who was now crouching besides the low table, and rummaging through the bags that Izuki and Kiyoshi handed to him. "Did you buy the essentials?" asked Kuroko, who had suddenly appeared next to Hyūga. Hyūga jumped but didn't shout, more or less used to Kuroko's disappearing acts.

"Yeah, we got him clothes his size and some toys." answered Riko after recovering from the small fright she received.

"Oh? Did all of you guys buy toddler clothes for Kagami-kun?" inquired Momoi.

Riko turned to her and gave a little squeal. "Yes and the ones I chose are adorable!"

Momoi gave a squeal of her own before she and Riko dashed to the low table were all of Seirin was gathered, and showcasing the clothes that they had each personally chosen for Kagami.

Aomine, now forgotten, simply sat there and watched as that guy with the cat face took out an outfit consisting of black cargo shorts, red and black sneakers, and a bright red shirt that had a big feline looking eye with the words 'Eye of the Tiger' underneath it, all within appropriate size, of course.

Aomine let out a snort, amused by the shirt and Kagami's happy looking expression. He knows for a fact that if Kagami was still a teenager, he would be bristling in anger at the joke.

_'If he were still a teenager...'_

If Kagami was still a teenager, how would the situation be different? For one, he wouldn't be sitting so nonchalantly on his rival's couch. If he was still a teenager, he was sure that they'd be in the middle of a shouting match. If he was still a teenager, Aomine would be suggesting a one-on-one (only to see Kagami humiliate himself, he unconvincingly tells himself). If he was still—

His train of thought got shattered into metaphorical glass pieces by a pair of ear splitting squeals.

Aomine winced and shot a glare to the pair of girls who were currently cooing at a bright orange bundle. He moved his gaze to the side and _stared_.

Kagami was in a _tiger_ suit. His whole body was covered in orange with black stripes. Where his hands are supposed to be are paws that come attached to the outfit. A hoodie was pulled over his bright red locks, two round fluffy ears sticking up. A striped tail with a white tip lay limp on the floor.

Despite telling himself that this was Kagami, his _rival_, he couldn't help but think 'cute'.

Immediately after he mentally bleached his brain before the horror could set in.

Shaking his head, he spoke up, "Oi Satsuki, what's with that ridiculous outfit?"

"Huh? Oh. Isn't it great?! Aida-San made an incredible choice!" She answered distractedly, too engrossed in cooing and making starry eyes at Kagami to pay much attention.

Aomine glanced back at Kagami and took note of how much his pudgy cheeks reddened under the attention. It wasn't just Satsuki acting this way, but everyone else looked ready to turn into a pile of goo.

Incredulous, he addressed Kuroko, "Tch. At least I know _you_ would never turn into a pile of—? Tetsu?! You too?!"

Kuroko had a barely noticeable blush on his cheeks and had a sparkle in his eyes that spoke volumes.

"Oh no, I lost you too," bemoaned Aomine.

Having had enough of this ridiculousness, he was going to speak up, but before he could rudely tell them to get over Kagami's supposed cuteness, Seirin's coach announced,

"C'mon guys, let's take Kagami-kun to the street basketball court!"

Apparently everyone was up for it, except for a hesitant looking Kagami.

Kuroko, noticing his hesitation, worriedly asked, "What's wrong Kagami-kun?"

Wringing his attached tail in his hands nervously and chewing on his bottom lip while shuffling his feet anxiously with a faint blush on his cheeks apparently made a pretty adorable picture. Because of this, Kuroko almost missed Kagami's statement,

"Ano, do I _have_ to go dressed like this? This is pretty e-embarrassing..."

Riko snapped out of her daze and declared, "Of course you're going like this Kagami-kun! We have to let the world know how adorable you are!"

All of Seirin was nodding along agreeably.

"B-but—!" tried Kagami.

"No buts! Let's go!"

Before Kagami could protest any further, Kiyoshi picked a surprised Kagami up and settled him on his shoulders. Once he got a secure grip on him, he made his way out the door.

Everyone else followed suit. Aomine, seeing as he was the only one not standing up, decided to stand up too. He wasn't going to be left in a foreign apartment all by himself. He followed them outside and down the stairs, staring at Kagami's gleeful smile as he was held up high above the rest. He saw that they were making their way to the street court that Aomine passed by on his way here.

In less than a five minute walk, they were there. Upon getting closer, he heard two very familiar voices.

"Pleeeaaaassseeee Midorimacchi?! We haven't hanged out in forever and I already have a ball with me, see?"

Finally arriving, they all saw none other than Kise Ryota waving a basketball around an annoyed looking Midorima Shintaro.

"Hello Kise-kun, Midorima-kun. It's nice to see you," Kuroko greeted, deciding to let himself be known.

"Waahh! Kurokocchi! What're you doing here?" asked Kise after dramatically gasping and gripping his chest in surprise.

"I'm here to play basketball with Kagami-kun and my team," answered Kuroko, unfazed by Kise's reaction.

Kise brightened at that and said, "Ah! That's great! In fact, I was just in the process of convincing Midorimacchi to play with—"

"My answer is still no," interjected a grumpy Midorima.

"But Midorimacchi—"

"Midorin! Ki-chan! It's nice to see you again!" Interrupted Momoi, not wanting to hear Kise's whining.

Both Miracles finally took noticed of the extra company. It seemed all of Seirin was here, along with Aomine and Momoi, surprisingly. Kise and Midorima also noticed a redheaded kid in a tiger suit sitting on Kiyoshi's shoulders.

"Momoicchi! Aominecchi! Are you guys here to play basketball too?"

Before any of them could reply, Kise went off to the next question, curiosity taking the better of him.

"Ano, who's the kid?"

Everyone simultaneously turned their heads to observe the still blushing Kagami on Kiyoshi's shoulders. Kiyoshi put Kagami down and gave a light nudge towards Kise's direction. Kagami looked up at Kise before turning to look at Kuroko questioningly. Kuroko nodded at the unvoiced inquiry and gestured towards both Miracles.

Nodding back, Kagami took a step forward and bowed in greeting, "Hello, nice to meet you! My name is Kagami Taiga, and yours?"

Kise and Midorima looked incredulous. That is, until Kise broke the silence that had settled with a loud, "EEEHHHHH?!"

Everyone winced at the unnaturally high pitched shout. Kise floundered around a little before shoving his face uncomfortably close to the small Kagami. He studied every inch of his face with unsettling scrutiny, ignoring how the Kagami child was not so subtly trying to back away. Then,

"Oh my god! This_ is_ Kagamicchi! Look!" Kise picked up Kagami from under his armpits and unceremoniously shoved the squirming child in front of Midorima's face.

Midorima took a step back before his face could collide with the others. Slightly ticked, he took note of the unmistakable features that made up Kagami. His two-toned hair, his oddly split eyebrows, and most noticeably, a shining pair of crimson eyes.

He nodded his head in affirmation and spoke up, "Oha-Asa _did_ predict horrible luck for Leo's yesterday."

"That's not the point!" Wailed Kise, "Look at how..._adorable_ he is!" He finished with a squeal.

Kise turned Kagami to face him and hugged him to his chest with crushing force before nuzzling his face into red locks. He let out random coos and pinched the cheeks of a very distressed looking Kagami.

Everyone looked on while feeling different amounts of disturbed. Here was one of the Generation of Miracles, an aspiring model, an almost grown _man_, squealing and cooing like a tween aged girl would.

Before things could get any more disturbing, Kuroko decided that now was a good time to rescue Kagami before he passed out from asphyxiation via out of control blond. Kuroko unexpectedly jabbed Kise on his ribs and caught a grateful looking Kagami from Kise's loosened grip.

"T-thanks Kuroko, I was about to lose all hope," said an out of breath Kagami.

Kuroko only smiled amusedly and nodded before giving Kagami-kun off to Izuki in order to distract him. Addressing the two Miracles he explained "Because of a strange incident last night, Kagami-kun got reverted to his five year old self. He doesn't have a concrete grasp of who we are but seems to know of us in some level, some more than others. We are currently trying to find a way to reverse whatever it is that happened to him."

As he finished up, Kagami-kun seemed to have squirmed out of Izuki's grip and was now approaching a weary looking Midorima. He looked up thoughtfully at him for about a minute before he hesitantly asked, "You...have a, um, lucky...lucky item, yeah?"

Midorima looked surprised for a moment before swiftly recovering and showing off his lucky item of the day to Kagami. "Yes, I do. Today's lucky item is a plush tiger. I follow Oha-Asa's horoscope and play by its predictions in order to ensure I receive the best of luck."

Kagami looked at the tiger in mild awe before directing a blinding smile at Midorima and excitedly saying, "That's so cool! Kaasan says I'm a Leo, what're you?"

Midorima blushed a little after hearing that his 'strange' hobby was referred to as _cool_. He averted his gaze and distractedly pushed up his glasses before answering, "I'm a Cancer."

"Is that the one with the crab? Nice!"

Turning away from a flustered Midorima, which Kagami was oblivious to, Kagami gave his attention to Kise, who was still groaning in pain after Kuroko's jab.

He walked up to him and bluntly declared, "I think I remember that you have a lot of girls chasing after you. Are you a, ah, what did Kaasan call it?... Ah! A playboy, are you a playboy?"

Kise choked on his saliva and the rest couldn't help but roar in laughter. Even Kuroko seemed to be slightly shaking, a sign that he was suppressing laughter.

"No, no! Kagamicchi! I'm not a playboy, I swear! I'm just really _really_ famous and I'm very popular with the girls, but that doesn't make me—!"

The rest of his frantic explanation was drowned out by the laughter increasing in volume.

Aomine continued laughing at Kise's expense, loving how utterly frantic he looked trying to persuade Kagami that no, he wasn't a playboy, and yes I swear I'm not lying please just let me hug you.

After a few minutes, everyone calmed down and ignored a moping Kise. Clearing her throat, Seirin's coach declared, "Alright. Let's do what we came here to do!"

Everyone nodded and started playing Rock Paper Scissors to decide who was on whose team. Aomine simply went to go sit on the bench, not wanting to be part of this if there wasn't someone that could keep up with him in a one-on-one.

He observed as the teams were decided on and were ready to start until Kagami's voice broke through,

"Um, how do you play basketball?"

You could hear a pin drop by how silent everything became. Even the wind seemed to stop blowing. Kagami shifted uncomfortably when everyone stared at him with wide disbelieving eyes. Even Aomine, who usually didn't care about much to react to anything, looked at Kagami like he just sprouted a second head.

Finally, delayed as it was, a loud,"HHHAAAHHHHHHH?!" was heard throughout the park.

Kagami simply looked on confusedly.

**A/N:** Well, that's it. I hope the length of it kind of made up for my lateness. I'm on brake right now, so I'll try to get another chapter up before next week. No promises though, my home will be invaded by relatives, and I'll be having awkward dinners with a third cousin who married the brother of the ex-wife of my distant uncle. Bear with me. Bye!


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** So! Looks like I managed to update faster than last time, yay for us! And yes, I'm about a week late, but better than being months late, right? Thanks for all of your reviews, they're very encouraging. But anywho, onward!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke or any of its characters.**

**Chapter Four**

Aomine stared down at the redhead grumpily while said redhead stared back up at him expectantly. Everyone else was off playing basketball while he was here, stuck in an awkward stare down with mini Kagami.

Aomine sighed and despairingly thought to himself, _'Why did it have to be me?'_

҉

_After experiencing the shock of finding out that Kagami apparently forgot how to play basketball, everyone started firing off questions at once._

_"What're you talking about Kagami?!"_

_"Waah! Kagamicchi forgot how to play! What're we gonna do now?!"_

_"Noo! We lost our Ace! How are we gonna defeat the Miracles in the Kanto tournament now?!"_

_"Idiots! The team is not just Kagami!"_

_"What has the world come to?!"_

_"Hmm, it makes sense."_

_The chattering halted when they heard Kuroko speak up._

_"What do you mean by that, Kuroko-kun?" asked Riko._

_Kuroko waited until everyone was paying attention before he started his explanation, "Well, I do believe that Kagami-kun started playing basketball during his middle school years in America. If I'm not mistaken, Himuro-kun was the one that introduced the sport to Kagami-kun in the first place. It makes sense that his reversal in age also involves a reversal in mind. In other words, Kagami-kun currently only has the memories of when he was the age he is now."_

_Everyone looked a little thoughtful at that. It was still a hard concept to grasp that Kagami reversed in age in the first place. Having to come up with theories as to how this happened and what are its effects are the best they could do right now. No one had a clue as to how to fix it, so they'll just have to get adjusted to the change and quickly learn how else Kagami was affected._

_"Well then, at least this is something we can solve easily!" Momoi said while clapping her hands cheerfully._

_"What do you propose, Momoi-san?" questioned Kuroko._

_Momoi gave a mischievous grin before turning around and pointing at an out of place looking Aomine._

_"Dai-chan!"_

_"Huh?"_

_"Dai-chan!" Momoi continued, "You will teach Kagamin how to play basketball!"_

_"HUH?! Why would I do that? There's no way he's learning from me!" protested an indignant Aomine._

_"Because Dai-chan, everyone else is going to be playing a match of basketball, and neither Aida-san nor I have enough skills to teach him. You're the only one not doing anything, so instead of lazing around, you'll be doing something productive!" explained Momoi._

_Aomine hurried to come up with an excuse until his eyes landed on Midorima. "What about Midorima? He isn't doing anything either! Force him to do this instead!"_

_"Actually, I have to meet up with Takao in a few minutes. I'd rather not be late-nanodayo." Midorima refuted hurriedly._

_Momoi turned to Aomine triumphantly. "See! Everyone has something to do but you Dai-chan! Now, you better do this or I'll tell your mom that you've been skipping practice again!" threatened Momoi._

_"You wouldn't!" challenged Aomine._

_Momoi simply took out her pink phone and dialed a number. After the first ring, you could hear the voice of a woman answering._

_"Hello aunty! No, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to let you know that Aomine—"_

_Aomine quickly rushed to Momoi using his unbelievable speed and snatched away the phone from her person and placed it on his ear,_

_"—that I'll arrive later than usual today. I'm hanging out with a few...friends." he finished off, slightly hesitating on the last part._

_After finishing off his explanation, he handed the phone back to Satsuki while glaring at her resentfully._

_Momoi smiled and threw him a basketball that she snatched from out of nowhere._

_"Alright then! Off you go!"_

҉

Oh, right. That _evil_ woman.

A tug at the hem of his shirt brought him out of his musings.

He glared down, annoyed, at that stupid Bakagami. The redhead only kept on looking at him expectantly. He sighed and decided that this was a necessary sacrifice. A Kagami that couldn't play basketball just wasn't a Kagami anymore.

"Fine fine, but you better pay close attention." Aomine spoke out resignedly.

Kagami only nodded excitedly and was nearly shaking in anticipation.

Aomine sighed once again and picked up the basketball that was at his feet. He started to slowly dribble the ball in place and spoke up,

"Okay, so this is what you do. You grab the ball like this, see?" Nod. "Okay. Then you just bounce the ball and make sure it doesn't leave from where you can reach it. Here, try it."

Aomine made sure to pass the ball without much force. Kagami fumbled with the ball for a little until he steadied it in his grasp. The sight was quite comical. The basketball was way too big for his hands. In fact, it was bigger than his whole head!

Kagami seemed undeterred by this and determinedly bounced the ball with one hand. Apparently he used too much force because the ball went sailing over his head.

"Ah!" Kagami exclaimed and extended his tiny arms out in order to catch it.

Aomine caught it for him and handed it back. Kagami took it with a blush of shame on his cheeks before frowning and tightly grasping the ball. He turned away again and this time, with a little less force, bounced the ball with one hand. The ball bounced back and Kagami started to lightly dribble the ball, looking unsure. When he saw that the ball wasn't going anywhere else, Kagami seemed to gain more confidence and started to walk around while bouncing the ball and interchanging hands.

"Haha! Look Aomine, look! I'm doing it!" Kagami excitedly called out while increasing his pace.

"Hmm, don't get too excited kid. This is just basics."

Kagami turned his head to pout at him and grumbled loudly, "Gee, thanks."

Aomine smirked and stole the ball from Kagami. "Now, since it seems you've got the dribbling down, let's see if you can shoot."

Aomine did one of his many seemingly formless shots using only one of his hands. The ball went in without even touching the net.

Kagami looked awed and let a, "Whoa." He shook himself out of his daze and quickly went after the ball. Once he got it back, he placed himself a few feet away from the basket. He tried imitating Aomine in only using one hand to shoot, but the ball didn't even reach the net. He frowned and went after it again, coming back and placing himself in the same spot. Once again, he tried shooting with one hand only but failed miserably. This went on for a little while until Kagami let out a frustrated whine and turned to Aomine.

"Why isn't it going in?!" Kagami demanded.

Aomine had sat down after the fourth failed attempt and just contented himself with watching Kagami fumble around like a noob. The frustration was obvious and honestly, quite amusing.

"Because you suck," Aomine replied.

"I don't suck!" exclaimed Kagami angrily. "You're probably teaching me wrong!" Kagami jabbed back.

"I'm not teaching you—" When Aomine figured out why Kagami couldn't make it, he almost smacked himself. Of course he couldn't make it; Kagami was attempting a _formless_ shot. His signature move. And with one hand! There was no way Kagami could make that.

Standing up, he walked up to Kagami and took the ball from his hands. He positioned himself a few meters away from the basket and took a shooting form.

"This is what you're supposed to do. You bend your knees and hold up the ball with your right hand. You put your left hand to the side of the ball to steady it. Once you take aim, you jump a little while shooting with your right hand. Like this."

Aomine took the regular shooting form and demonstrated what a perfect shot should look like.

"Ha! So you _were_ teaching me wrong!" proclaimed Kagami smugly.

"Tch, just go get the ball and start shooting." Aomine replied, annoyed at the redhead and himself for not figuring it out sooner.

Kagami gave one last smug grin before going after the ball and positioning himself in front of the net. He gingerly settled himself on a shooting form and placed the ball on his hands. He took a deep breath and held it. Then, he shot the ball up and into the basket. The ball skimmed the rim and barely made it in, but was made nonetheless.

Kagami released the breathe he was holding and started cheering.

"Yeah! Take that Ahomine! I don't suck at all!" cheered Kagami while jumping around Aomine and poking him on the stomach.

Aomine caught the little hands that were poking him. "Stop that, it's annoying," he grouched.

Mini Kagami only smiled and looked at him as if waiting for something.

Realizing what Kagami wanted, he grudgingly praised him, "Uh, yeah, that wasn't as sucky as I expected, Bakagami." Well, praised him in his own asshole way.

Kagami smiled joyfully anyway, all of his teeth showing while a light blush appeared on the top of his cheeks. Aomine looked away and uncomfortably scratched the back of his head. Seriously, why was Kagami making stupid expressions like that? It wasn't right.

He cleared his throat and gave the ball back to Kagami.

"Here, just because you made one shot doesn't mean you're an expert at it. Go shoot some more hoops until you get fifteen out of twenty."

Kagami nodded determinedly and rushed back to his previous position. But just before Kagami started shooting, he turned back and called out,

"Oi, Aomine."

"Hmm?" he replied.

"Thanks for teaching me basketball!" Kagami responded, all smiles and sparkly eyes.

Aomine looked away again, deeming to not reply to that at all.

_'Seriously Kagami, stop giving me those smiles...'_

After several hours of playing basketball, everyone was tired out and hungry. Including Aomine, even if he didn't do much. Still, having to deal with Kagami alone was tiresome in on itself.

"Alright everyone! We've been here a while so let's head back to Kagami-kun's apartment. I'm sure I can whip something up so we can all eat," announced Riko.

Hyūga quickly stepped in front of Riko before she could take another step. He put his hands up to make her stop and forced a smile.

"Ah, coach, you don't need to do that. We'll go to Maji's or something..." Hyūga trailed off when he saw Riko smiling creepily. He shuddered and decided that the best course of action was to shut his trap before he got killed.

Riko continued smiling and let out in a sickly sweet voice, "Ne Hyūga-kun, I'm doing this out of the goodness of my heart. Can't I reward my team for playing a good game?"

All of Seirin huddled together in a corner, terrified for their lives that were now in the hands of their coach. They had a good life, they thought.

Kise, Aomine, Momoi, and a chibi Kagami looked confused by their behavior. Kuroko went up to them and explained, "Coach's cooking skills are a bit...lacking."

Aomine shrugged before carelessly saying, "I'm starving, I think I'll eat anything right now. Besides, she can't be as bad as Satsuki."

That earned him a smack to the head.

"Actually, Coach's cooking skills are on par with Momoi-san's, maybe even a little lower." Kuroko clarified, backing away slightly incase Momoi-san decided to smack him too.

Kise looked baffled at this. "What?! How can someone cook worse than Momoicchi?! Is that even possible?!"

Smack.

"Ouch! I'm sorry Momoicchi, but it's true!"

Momoi 'hmph'd' and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm sure Aida-san and I can cook something up. Maybe if we combined our skills, we'll make something delicious!"

Riko, having overheard what Momoi said, brightened at the suggestion and spoke up, "Yeah! C'mon Momoi-san, let's head over to Kagami-kun's apartment!"

"Ugh, well in that case, I'm out. No way am I eating whatever crap they'll come up with," Aomine grouched out. He was already on his way out of the court before he got stopped by Momoi pulling the back of his hoodie.

"Aomine-kun! We're going, and that's final!" Momoi ordered, sounding like a bossy mom.

"Tsk, and why would I listen to you?" Aomine questioned grumpily.

Momoi brought Aomine close and whispered menacingly in his ear, "Because Dai-chan, I know where your porn is. Who knows what I can do with that type of information?"

Aomine paled slightly and growled. He shrugged off her hold and turned around to head back to where the rest were waiting for them. Momoi skipped ahead of him to hook her arm around Seirin's Coach's elbow. They started chattering and were exchanging their 'delicious' recipes and whatnot.

Aomine went to go walk next to Kuroko who was walking with chibi Kagami. When he got close enough he heard Kagami question, "Ne Kuroko, is her cooking really that bad?"

Kuroko nodded affirmatively and responded with, "Yes Kagami-kun."

"How bad is it?"

"Well, one time after we won a match against Tōō, we went over to your apartment to celebrate. Someone else was supposed to cook for us but Coach beat us to the kitchen and already had a hot pot ready. It tasted normal and there didn't seem to be anything off with it—asides from the fruit—so we ate it. But it was like a slow acting poison; we all collapsed a few minutes after finishing the hot pot. It was quite disconcerting." Kuroko explained tonelessly, seeming to not be affected by his near death experience.

Kagami and Aomine looked horrified. How could someone make a poison out of fruits and vegetables?!

Aomine simply groaned and said, "Damn, and I wanted to live a little longer."

Kuroko simply smirked amusedly while Kagami was still contemplating on how someone can mess up food so completely.

Seirin, Kise, Aomine, and Kagami were all sitting around the low table, dreading over whatever was going to be placed on their plates. They could hear and see the tinkering the women were making. From what they could see, the kitchen looked a mess. There were pots everywhere and random foods were spread around the kitchen. Stains seemed to be on almost every surface and smoke was seen coming out of the bubbling pots that were currently cooking on the stove.

"I'm not cleaning that," Kagami mumbled to himself.

Everyone else silently nodded to themselves, agreeing with him wholeheartedly.

Finally, after having been in suspense for what seemed an eternity, the woman came out of the kitchen with a dramatic flair; steam and smoke being left in their wake while the lights did some weird thing and focused on them, casting their faces in menacing shadows.

They all gulped in unison.

Momoi and Riko approached the low table and carefully placed a plate in front of every one of them. They all looked down and saw...meat. Not even properly cooked meat. The questionable pieces of 'meat' looked undercooked and just generally raw. There was some type of what they assumed was a vegetable accompanying the meat. They were all cut in varying sizes and didn't look cooked at all.

"Umm, Coach?" questioned a brave Fukuda.

"What is it, Fukuda-kun?" answered Riko while smiling expectantly along with Momoi.

"Uh...well, can you tell us the n-name of this dish?" he inquired, almost losing his nerve.

Momoi and Riko beamed before answering, "It's Nikuyaga!* Can't you tell?"

Seirin nodded hurriedly, unconvincingly trying to look like they knew all along. This went right over both girls' heads.

"Well, go on! Try it!" Momoi eagerly encouraged.

Kagami watched as everyone reluctantly grabbed their chopsticks and picked up a slice of meat. He wisely decided to see if they were all going to die before even trying his own serving.

He watched as everyone signed their death warrants by placing their piece of food in their mouths. Everything was silent, Kagami intensely staring at any change of expression. And a change there was. The faces of everyone turned into an unnatural purple color. Grimaces couldn't be kept from showing and some even did a comical spit-take! Kagami decidedly pushed his plate away.

He stood up, unnoticed, as everyone broke out into complaints. He walked to the kitchen and looked around at the mess that was made. He rummaged around the fridge to see what was left, and took out a bag of rice that was left untouched and some vegetables. He searched for a salvageable piece of meat and found one on a cutting board.

Kagami climbed up a stool that was conveniently placed near the stove, and placed all the dirty dishes into the sink where they can be washed later. Kagami then grabbed a knife that was next to the cutting board and started chopping up a few vegetables, cutting them in small even pieces with practiced ease. When that was done, he grabbed a pot from one of the cabinets and filled it with water and placed the vegetables inside it. He carefully set the pot on a burner and turned on the heat to medium to let them boil just right.

Kagami wiped the knife on a rag that was hanging from a hook on the wall, and commenced to cut the slab of meat in the same fashion as the vegetables.

_'Honestly, how can someone mess up steaming cabbage? These noobs.'_ He thought to himself while shaking his head contemptibly.

Meanwhile, the people in the living room were still complaining and the chefs were throwing insults at every one of them for being rude. Aomine was trying to get rid of the awful taste in his mouth. He drank his bottle of water religiously until all he could taste was the water.

_'Ugh, never again...'_

He looked around to see that everyone else was either spitting out their food or were trying to not so discreetly slide their food into a nearby plant. Kise was even crying crocodile tears at how horrid the 'food' tasted. As he snorted amusedly at that, he took notice that there was one little person missing.

"Oi Tetsu, where's Kagami?" asked Aomine.

Kuroko looked to his left where an untouched plate was the only thing there. He looked around the room but couldn't spot him. He turned back to Aomine and responded,

"I don't know, Aomine-kun." Kuroko then turned to his team and cleared his throat, unsuccessfully trying to catch their attention.

Aomine rolled his eyes at his ex-shadow's ridiculously low presence. He proceeded to voice out his earlier question louder in order to save Kuroko the trouble.

"Hey, where's Kagami?"

This time, as they heard his imposing low baritone voice, everyone turned to look at him confusedly before the question registered in their minds. They looked around in the same manner as Tetsu and it seemed that they couldn't find him either.

It looked like Tetsu was ready to organize a search party—that is until they heard low humming come from the kitchen area.

Curious, everyone stood up from their spots on the floor and tiptoed to the kitchen. They all silently hovered around the counter that separated them from the kitchen. What they saw left them a little awestruck.

Chibi Kagami was expertly cutting up a slab of meat into neat little cubes and once he finished, he seemed to be peppering seasoning on to them before placing all the cut up pieces into a pot separate from the one already boiling. He then took out a rice cooker and placed the contents of a bag of rice in it and stepped back to observe his work.

It was at this point that Kagami took notice of his audience.

"Oh. Uh, hi?" Kagami nervously greeted.

"Kagami..." slowly started Hyūga.

"Y-yeah?"

"... What are you making?"

Kagami looked a little surprised at the inquiry before his features took an expression of slight arrogance.

"Oh you know, nothing too fancy. I'm just making curry." he nonchalantly responded while absentmindedly stirring the contents in a pot.

He was _just making curry_. He wasn't just making curry; he was making _delicious looking_ curry.

"Kagamin, you can cook?" '_And better than us?!'_ was left unsaid but clearly heard.

Kuroko responded for Kagami, "Actually, Kagami-kun is an excellent cook."

"But he's a five year old! How can he know his way around the kitchen better than most of us?!" proclaimed Aomine. This discovery was quite shocking to him, considering that the extent of his cooking skills was limited to making rice, and even then it was the rice cooker that did all of the cooking. And besides that, Kagami was currently a _five year old_. Was it normal for a kid his age to know how to cook?

"Hey, that's right! Kagamicchi, how come you already know how to cook? Did someone teach you how?" inquired Kise with righteous indignation. Even he, who was good at almost everything, had trouble cooking. He usually had his chefs do all the work.

Kagami stopped what he was doing and looked away. He turned around and started to search the cabinets for who knows what. It didn't matter; he just wanted to do something to distract himself with.

"Actually, I just watched my mom cooking some stuff, and then I tried it one time and it actually came out pretty good." he answered distractedly.

"But you can't know how to cook good curry from just trying it one time. Did you practice all the time?" asked Momoi curiously, wanting to know in order to put it into play once she tried cooking curry herself.

Kagami once again stopped what he was doing but didn't turn around. He looked to the ground sadly before explaining,

"... My mom, she works a lot. She has several jobs and she says she does it so she can support us. I'm left alone a lot of the time because we can't afford a nanny so it's just me and my cat alone in our apartment."

Everyone stayed quiet and listened with rapt attention. Seirin especially wanted to listen to this, considering Kagami was their teammate and they recently found out he only had a mom. What more was there to him?

"That didn't bother me too much; I understood why she was doing it even though it was lonely most of the time. So, well, my mom said that I couldn't just eat cereal all day so she had me watching her cook sometimes in order for me to make my own food when she was gone." Kagami finished, still not looking at any one.

The silence that followed after was heavy. Some of them were trying to come up with the right thing to say while others couldn't help but feel pity for this lonely kid. Was he still lonely now? Now that he lived by himself again and had no one to talk to during his stay here.

Aomine felt slightly uncomfortable while listening to all of this. He didn't want to know Kagami's past, he didn't want to be part of this. He felt as if he was intruding on a moment between only the Seirin players. Still, he couldn't help but be enraptured by every word coming out of Kagami's mouth. There was something fascinating in hearing sordid details about one's rival. And he didn't mean it in a bad way, more in a whoa-I-can't-believe-I'm-hearing-this sort of way.

He noticed that Tetsu was about to speak up, probably with words of comfort, when Kagami finally turned to face them. What they all saw made his breath hitch.

Kagami flashed them the saddest smile they have ever seen. It was forced, with fake cheer decorating his features. As he spoke, no one was convinced that what he was saying was true, "But it's alright! Kaasan says I have to be strong, so I'll be strong. I'm fine with only Flamey as company. After all, I'm used to it..."

Kagami turned away and grabbed a clean plate from one of the cabinets. He went up to the rice which was already cooked and served himself two spoonfuls. He then went up to the curry, which looked about ready, and poured himself a huge amount. Kagami grabbed a spoon and walked out of the kitchen.

"There's curry if any of you want any. I'll be in my room." Kagami said cheerlessly.

They all watched him walk away, no one moving to stop him from leaving.

Aomine looked around at the Seirin team. Some faces showed concern while others showed helplessness, some a mix of both. They wanted to help, to cheer up Kagami, but the truth of the matter was that this was all set in the past. Sure, Kagami may believe that his five year old memories are his current life, but in reality that life left him eleven years ago. He isn't aware of that, but the rest are. They didn't know what to do.

Aomine let out a weary sigh.

_'This is getting troublesome...'_

After Kagami had retreated to his room, everyone, not knowing what else to do, decided to serve themselves some of the curry that was offered to them.

Unsurprisingly to Seirin, it tasted delicious. They all either nodded affirmatively to each other, saying that this was definitely Kagami's cooking, or hummed in appreciation. The rest on the other hand, were still baffled that mini Kagami could make something this good. They found themselves humming along with Seirin, the food being undeniably delicious.

Afterwards, Seirin, Momoi, and Kise went to the kitchen and started cleaning up the mess that was left behind. They didn't want to leave all of this mess to be cleaned up by Kagami.

Aomine meanwhile stood to the side, trying to see if there was any more curry left. Unfortunately, there wasn't. So he only stood there, watching as everyone else cleaned up. Aomine took this time to himself to think back to everything's that happened so far.

He was dragged to Kagami's apartment against his will, found out that Kagami magically reversed in age, made said chibi cry, had to apologize (something he will _never_ do again), saw Kagami wearing the most ironic outfit, taught Kagami how to play basketball, unwillingly learned a piece of Kagami's past, and tasted the most delicious curry made by a five year old.

Aomine sighed while thinking, _'This day has been long. I want to nap.'_

But of course, nothing ever goes Aomine's way. Before he could even tell Satsuki that they were leaving already, he heard the slamming of a door opening and stomping footsteps heading their way.

Everyone startled at the loud noise, and snapped their eyes to the dark hallway. But it didn't seem to be so dark anymore, for there was a bright light hurriedly coming their way. What came out of the hallway was a distressed looking Kagami, grasping at his own clothes in a panicked fashion. And it was understandable, he being panicked, because there was a bright light that seemed to be originating from Kagami himself.

"Guys! K-kuroko! What's going on?!" exclaimed Kagami, sounding terrified.

Snapping out of his bewildered daze, Kuroko rushed to Kagami, kneeling in front of him and steadying him by the shoulders

"Kagami-kun, Kagami-kun! Calm down, it's alright. Can you tell me how this happened?" Kuroko asked calmly, trying to pacify the terrified kid.

Kagami tried to stop his uncontrolled shaking, but he couldn't. He was afraid and had no idea where this light was coming from and it was suddenly getting very hot.

He tried speaking without stuttering too much, "I d-don't know! I was just e-eating my curry, and t-thinking about my m-mom and stuff, when t-this light a-appeared! And w-why is it getting so h-hot?!"

Before Kagami could start ripping his clothes off to relieve some of the heat, he suddenly felt an immense amount of pain hit him. With a shout, he collapsed on the ground and curled into a ball.

Alarmed, all of Seirin rushed to the hurt child's side and crouched around him, trying to see if they could do anything.

"Kagami, what's wrong? Kuroko, what's happening?!" demanded Hyūga, sounding distressed.

Kuroko looked distressed himself, hovering over Kagami protectively and trying to reach out for him. "I'm not sure, but this looks like what happened on the night Kagami-kun reversed in age. All I know is that he's in an immense amount of pain right now." he replied, his helplessness at the situation showing through his voice and expression.

Aomine didn't know what to do. If Seirin didn't know, then how could he? Sure, he wasn't friends with Kagami, but that didn't mean he enjoyed seeing his rival like this; in pain and whimpering pathetically on the floor. He hesitantly reached out to Kagami's forehead, trying to see if maybe he could sooth the pain. But as soon as he touched him, a scorching heat seemed to emanate from Kagami and in turn burn Aomine's hand. With a hiss, he retrieved his appendage and backed away slightly.

This seemed to cause a chain reaction. Kuroko let go of Kagami's shoulders in the same manner, wincing as he looked at his red hands. When everybody else saw this, they all backed away and left a good amount of space between them and the squirming child. They could all feel it now; Kagami seemed to be radiating heat. It was intense, making all of them break out into a sweat. And it only seemed to be getting hotter as the light that was surrounding Kagami grew brighter.

Eventually the light grew so bright that they had to shield their eyes from view and look away. What they couldn't see, they could hear. They heard Kagami's shouts of pain, his whimpering, and his cries for help. And they couldn't do anything, the heat that was emanating from him too hot for them to bare. But slowly, the light looked to be dimming little by little, Kagami's distressed cries diminishing. They all carefully uncovered their eyes, warily looking at the center of the circle.

Once the light was completely gone, they could clearly see what was left behind.

It was Kagami, still in the same tiger outfit, only this time it looked too small on him. His limbs were longer and his face less chubby. His wild red locks looked less tamed than they usually were. He still looked younger than them, only he was older than before.

He was Kagami Taiga, only it seemed to be that he gained a few years.

Aomine looked on baffled, along with the rest of them. Any doubts that they had before have been vanquished, seeing as they saw for themselves that this was real.

He stared at the sleeping child, for he was still a child, before looking away and letting out a heavy sigh.

_'I really need a nap.'_

*Nikuyaga is a simple traditional Japanese dish consisting of steamed meat and cooked cabbage.

**A/N**: Okay, well, there it is. At least I didn't take two months to update. I hope you guys liked it. I'll be introducing the rest of the GoM in the next chapter. Who isn't excited to see Akashi's reaction to all of this, right? I know I am. Also, I'll be explaining some more of Kagami's past too. What do you think of his past so far? Please let me know, and thanks for reading! Until next time!


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